China: Daimler and Byd show their electric vehicle

At the 2014 Auto China in Beijing, the German automaker and its Chinese partner revealed the production ready version of the first model from their new electric car brand.

The Denza electric car is scheduled to start local sales in September, priced from 369,000 yuan (42,700 euros) before any government subsidy. The model would be helped in six cities – Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Tianjin – by government incentives between 111,000 and 117,000 yuan.

“Denza is the first complete vehicle that Daimler has developed together with BYD outside of Germany and it is undoubtedly one key pillar of Daimler’s electric vehicle strategy in China,” said Thomas Weber, Daimler’s R&D boss.

The new Denza electric vehicle is a very spacious hatchback, being 4642 mm long, 1850 mm wide and 1642 mm tall and equipped with a 2880 mm wheelbase. Its battery pack would give the car a maximum range of 253 km – with the charge time of 15 hours from a public station and 32 at home.

The model is built by Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology, a joint venture between BYD and Daimler, established since 2011. The duo use Daimler’s experience when it comes to the EV’s architecture and platform and also safety, while Byd comes with the powertrain – the electric motor and the battery pack.